


makougaon

by unsungillumination



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Drabble Collection, M/M, Requests, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2019-06-26 06:43:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15657888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsungillumination/pseuds/unsungillumination
Summary: akeshu sounds like a sneeze because it blesses us all(collection of <1k drabbles and requests from tinythoughts and tumblr!)9: turnover





	1. no heart to be heard

**Author's Note:**

> anon request on tumblr: _things you said that i wasn’t meant to hear_
> 
> spoilers for november - take care!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goro traces the curve of Ren’s bare shoulder with his fingers.
> 
> Everything about this is wrong.

   Goro traces the curve of Ren’s bare shoulder with his fingers.

   Everything about this is wrong. The warmth of having another person beside him is bizarre and unsettling; the cramped, dusty attic a far cry from his own polished apartment. It’s unfamiliar how familiar it feels, discomfiting how comfortable he is. Unwelcome how much he wants to be used to living this way.

   He’s having trouble sleeping. Ren’s been out for a few hours – Goro’s been watching the gentle rise and fall the whole time, but it doesn’t lull him to rest. Far from it. Every breath is a sick reminder of just how wrong this all is and how much it can’t last. It’s a building tension within him like a breath he can’t exhale. He almost wants to cry, or maybe scream, but he just wreathes his fingers through Ren’s hair again and listens to him sigh in his sleep. It’s like sharing a bed with a cat.

   (Ren thankfully doesn’t shed.)

   It must be two in the morning by now. Goro shifts back to look out the window. The streets are washed over with pale moonlight. It might be calming if he weren’t already so overwhelmed.

   He turns back onto his side and gazes at Ren’s sleeping back. It feels like his heart might burst.

   Goro hesitates.

   “I wish,” he says – only he doesn’t, because he traps the sound in the back of his throat before it can escape. It’s only the sound of his lips moving, now – silent, unspoken words in the dead of night. “I wish I could let myself love you.”

   He doesn’t stop the end in time. The last two words slip out in a low, choked murmur.

   He freezes.

   It’s his imagination when Ren seems to still. The break in his even breathing is paranoia and nothing more. Ren’s been asleep for hours. He wouldn’t wake to something like this – a shattered hope in a broken voice, in a world that couldn’t ever let it be real.

   Ren shifts. In his sleep. In his _sleep_.

   Goro lets himself breathe again many long moments later. Curled in the sheets and pressed close against Ren’s back, his face tucked into the space behind Ren’s neck, breathing in his clean, hazy scent.

   He’s almost drifted off when Ren whispers, “Me, too,” so softly that Goro almost doesn’t catch it. He’s left paralysed and wondering until the sun rises on the morning of the eighteenth of November.

   He stumbles down the stairs and out the door before the boss can arrive to open shop, and quietly prepares for the end.


	2. run boy run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I hope,” says Ren, “I hope, somehow, through all this, we can be friends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> goro has a complicated relationship with affection.
> 
> short and vague, pulled from tinythoughts. spoilers for november - take care!

  “Something unrelated,” says Ren, quite out of the blue.

  Goro looks at him curiously, but he's still gazing into the stars. “What is it,” he says at last, after a long period of silence in which Ren evidently refuses to speak without prompting.

  “You mean a lot to me,” says Ren, and Goro almost drops his phone. “Our circumstances are - mm, they are what they are. But I like you. I don't want to screw it up. I'm glad we have this.”

  Goro opens and closes  his mouth three times before he manages a sound. “Ren?”

  “I hope,” says Ren, “I hope, somehow, through all this, we can be friends.”

  Through all this, Ren’s never taken his eyes off the swirling sky; Goro sees constellations in his glasses, almost aggressively so, reflections boldened tenfold by the fact that the lenses don't mean to help him see at all.

  When Ren finally turns to look at him, Goro sees his own face reflected back at him. It's almost a struggle to cut through, to see Ren’s stormy eyes looking steadfastly back through his own stricken expression, and Goro jolts when he realises he's been silent for over a minute.

  “Uh,” he says, just to make a sound - just to cut the uncomfortable quiet in which he's just been staring at the other boy’s face, but Ren doesn't seem perturbed.

  “Thought you should know,” he says casually. Too casually! _ Your bag is open. Your button is loose. Your friendship is valuable. I thought you should know. _

_   You have a nice jacket. You make for fine conversation. You are very dear to me. I thought you should know. _

  “R-right,” says Goro. His mind is screaming, slapping him around in his own head - he doesn't  _ do  _ this - he doesn't stutter or gape - he's trained himself well enough to never let himself slip but - and here he feels like a robot short-circuiting - a faulty wire zapping his brain -

  And there's so much to  _ say  _ -

_ I enjoy your company - _

_   I like this too - _

_   You're pretty - pretty even without a bullet in your head - _

_   I hope - _

_   I don't want things to be this way - _

_ I hope - _

_   I HOPE - _

_   I  _ wish _ we could be friends, too - _

  One minute, two, of expectant silence - perhaps it's not expectant, he's lost his ability to read the situation, he's lost everything he is and he doesn't know  _ why _ , it shouldn't  _ matter _ this much, and what he really blurts out is, “I have to go.”

  He stumbles as he backs away and curses himself as he stumbles. Even his dignity leaves him, of course it does - if he's a robot he's been miscalibrated, poorly programmed, and he curses his eyes that they can still see Ren’s nonchalantly concerned, quietly befuddled face as he turns with a brisk stride and exits the building with what he hopes is a reasonable amount of grace even as his brain screams at him to run,  _ run, RUN _ .


	3. tilted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “God!” Ren slaps a hand to his face. “Do you have to be such a child?”
> 
> “I adapt to my environment,” Goro retorts, and reaches for the hammer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anon request on tumblr: a kiss _to distract_.
> 
> vague domestic au.

   “Move it, it’s tilted –”

   “ _It’s not tilted._ ”

   Ren reaches for the corner of the shelf and Goro slaps his hand away. “Come _on_ , Goro.”

   “It’s perfectly straight,” Goro snaps. He refuses to look at Ren, the full force of his death glare going straight to the poor shelf support they’ve been sliding all over the wall. “Your eyes are just broken. Stop getting in my way so I can fix it in place.”

   “If you fix it _here_ it’ll be wonky!”

   “It’s NOT WONKY!”

   “Stop yelling!”

   “I’m not yelling.” Goro makes an annoyed growling noise. “And don’t tell me what to do.”

   “ _God!_ ” Ren slaps a hand to his face. “Do you have to be such a child?”

   “I adapt to my environment,” Goro retorts, and reaches for the hammer.

   That’s the last straw. Ren spins him around before he can grab it and kisses him hard on the mouth. Goro makes a startled squawking noise, thoroughly distracted, and abandons the hammer to wrap his arms around Ren’s waist.

   Still kissing him, Ren clumsily snatches the hammer up behind Goro’s back and reaches for the shelf support on the wall. Before Goro can do anything, the support has been fixed (haphazardly) to the wall and Ren is releasing him with a satisfied sigh. He calmly places the shelf on top of the supports and begins stacking knick-knacks while Goro staggers back until he hits the wall, trying to catch his breath.

   “What,” he wheezes, looking rather hot and bothered, “the _fuck_ were you thinking.”

   Ren bats his eyelashes. “Got my way.”

   Goro glares at him. “That was _not_ fair play,” he announces, gesturing at the messily attached support, “and look at this. You’ve done a terrible job.”

   “All’s fair in love and home improvement. I think I did a great job.”

   “I think calling it ‘improvement’ is generous,” Goro grumbles. “Well?”

   “Well, what?” Ren asks.

   “We’ve already set up the sofa,” says Goro, “and if you leave it _there_ then I’ll start to think you’re only dating me to ruin my house.”

   Ren grins. “Okay, I like the sound of your voice again,” he says, and steps into Goro’s space.

   An ominous cracking from behind them freezes them both. They turn, slowly, to watch as the (wonky) support falters under the weight and pulls from the wall, sending a variety of ornaments to the floor and leaving a large crack in the wall.

   “Oh,” says Goro.

   “Ah,” says Ren.

   They regard the mess for a moment.

   “I told you your eyes were broken,” says Goro.

   “Shut up,” Ren protests. “ _Your_ way was wonkier, I just messed it up because I was kissing you.”

   “So you _do_ concede it was a bad idea?!”

   “ _You didn’t seem to think it was such a –_ ”

   “You know,” Goro interrupts. “There is that large painting we haven’t found a place for yet.”

   They look at the crack in the wall.

   “I didn’t like this shelf anyway,” says Ren.

   “I’ll go get the painting,” says Goro.

   “Let me put it up, you’ll make it tilted again –”

   “Oh for crying out – _your face is tilted_.”


	4. 20/20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren dodges the first swipe with the practiced ease of an astigmatic veteran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> flashfic prompt from leed @sichthys on twitter: goro flirtatiously trying to see how bad ren's eyesight is by nabbing his glasses but they're fake and he just gets pissed off instead bc he secretly wears contacts
> 
> originally posted on tinythoughts!

   Ren dodges the first swipe with the practiced ease of an astigmatic veteran. “Hey.”

   “Come on,” Goro laughs. “Let me see the damage, won’t you?”

   “Not you, too.” Ren curses as Goro’s second swipe knocks the frames askew, and he nudges them back onto his nose. “Please,” he says. “My glasses have touched more people than I have. Why does everyone have to –” he gasps as Goro manages to snatch them off his nose while he’s busy monologuing. “ _Hey_.”

   Goro offers him a coy, faux-apologetic smirk as recompense as he slips the glasses on. He blinks into them a few times. “Smudged,” he comments.

   “Could it be because my friends won’t stop touching them?” Ren mutters. He rubs the little indents in the side of his nose, indulging in a little smile as Goro tilts his head back and forth like a bird. “Having fun?”

   “I can’t see any difference,” Goro admits at last. “Are they not very strong?”

   Ren shrugs.

   Goro narrows his eyes. “How bad are your eyes?”

   “Not great.”

   “…Are _my_ eyes bad?”

   “Possible,” Ren muses. “You don’t take very good care of them.”

   Goro looks alarmed. “It’s certainly concerning I can see through these at all, considering the state of your eyesight.” He plucks them off and polishes them carefully with his shirt before sliding them back on. “M-maybe … Things might even look clearer with them on.” He squints. “…Perhaps I should book in with the optometrist.”

   “Maybe you should,” Ren agrees. “Or you could try my contacts.”

   Goro’s panic-train stalls.

   “Your what,” he says.

   “Well, not the ones I’m wearing,” Ren adds. “My spare ones.”

   “You wear contacts,” Goro deadpans. “Under. Your glasses.”

   Ren nods. There’s little he can do to stop the shit-eating grin from sliding over his face, but the polite outrage blooming on Goro’s is reason to give it his best shot.

   “And these.” Goro takes them off again and waves them in a tight little circle. “They’re fake?”

   “I mean, they’re real glasses,” says Ren. “They’re just not prescription lenses.”

   “I see.”

   “Because they’re plastic,” Ren adds.

   “I _see_ ,” Goro says again, through a clenched jaw.

   An ominous pause.

   “But hey, if you think you can see better through them,” says Ren, “can I recommend a monocle –”

   “I’d like to try your contacts,” Goro announces.

   Ren blinks. “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, they’re all the way in my room –”

   “That won’t be necessary,” says Goro pleasantly. “There’s a pair right here.” He lunges before Ren can quite register the danger he’s in.

   “Shit – Goro –?!”

   The glasses clatter to the floor as Ren shrieks and flails under Goro’s accusing hands, and he reflects regretfully that while the lenses may do nothing to help him see, they might have done wonders to protect him from the vengeful boyfriend trying to poke his eyes out.

  Too bad only his hindsight is 20/20.


	5. trip and fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s been a long trip. I miss you. How’s home?”  
> “Won’t know ‘til you get back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy belated birthday renee [@rnoonjelly](https://twitter.com/rnoonjelly)!! i know you said cuddles, but how about pining for cuddles instead? :3
> 
> call log, goro's on a 2 week business trip.

“Hey!”

“ _Hey. Hi…”_

“God, you sound exhausted. Are you okay?”

_“Yeah. Yes. Sorry. Everything’s fine. How are you?”_

“I’m good. Let me ask about you first.”

_“Haha… I promise I’m fine. It’s been a long… life.”_

“Dramatic.”

_“Trip. It’s been a long trip. I miss you. How’s home?”_

“Won’t know ‘til you get back.”

_“Wow. Ugh.”_

“Smooth, don’t lie. I miss you too. I hope you’re not overworking.”

_“Obviously I’m overworking. Going to work is overworking. It’s okay. I’m used to it.”_

“You should not be –”

_“Do we have to talk about work right now? I’d like to talk to_ you _… It’s supposed to be my reprieve.”_

“…I know you’re dodging but I do like talking about me. Mona misses you too.”

_“Oh!”_

“Yeah! He’s warming up to you, finally. Man, it’s. It’s only been a week. I miss you so much.”

_“You said that already.”_

“Haven’t stopped missing you since I said it.”

_“I’ll be home soon and you can watch me cringe in person.”_

“You can cringe as much as you want. I just want to be able to sleep again.”

_“…You haven’t slept?”_

“Not well. The bed’s so empty.”

_“I’m not the biggest fan of mine, either. Of course, it has less to do with you and more to do with how scratchy the hotel sheets are.”_

“Why do I like you. It doesn’t matter. Come home soon.”

_“You know I have no control over that. …It won’t be too much longer.”_

“A week…”

_“We’ve managed one already.”_

“Hardest of my life. Hey, what time is for you? Have you slept?”

_“…Yes.”_

“…Have you slept in the past eighteen hours?”

_“Fine. It’s 1AM. No, I haven’t.”_

“Goro –”

_“I’m fine. I wanted to talk to you.”_

“I want to talk to you, too. Always. But –”

_“I won’t be able to sleep anyway.”_

“Sheets that bad, huh.”

_“Not soft enough.”_

“You know, our sheets at home aren’t that soft either.”

_“Yes, but you’re there.”_

“…Wow, you had to blindside me? You can’t just compliment me like a normal person?”

_“It doesn’t matter how scratchy the sheets are, so long as I have something soft to hold. Someone.”_

“That’s – that’s not a normal – um, you –”

_“Haha. Shall I hang up while you’re spluttering and save you some pride?”_

“I’m – not. Not. Um. A-aren’t you tired? You should get some sleep.”

_“I guess I should.”_

“…Do you have to hang up?”

_“…This call will cost an awful lot.”_

“Ah, what do you work for? Can we leave it for – just a little while?”

_“…Will it help you sleep?”_

“Maybe. Yeah.”

_“…Me, too. I hope. Tell me about your day?”_

“Tell me about yours… All that law will put me to sleep for sure.”

_“Was that supposed to insult me? I can hardly disagree.”_

“Little cynical there?”

_“Oh, I_ love _my job. …Sorry. I do, I’m just tired –”_

“I know, shh, babe. 1AM has no filter. Today was okay. I didn’t do much. Did I tell you Ryuji dyed his hair again?”

_“What colour?”_

“Red. Um, accidentally.”

“ _Accidentally?”_

“He never reads labels. I don’t know how he lives. He doesn’t see signs either.”

_“He doesn’t see signs?”_

“…Okay, go to sleep.”

_“What? Why?”_

“You’re doing the thing.”

_“The thing?”_

“The thing where you, you just repeat something I said in a surprised voice because you don’t have any energy but you still want to sound interested.”

_“…It works on everyone but you. Sorry. I do want to keep talking, I just –”_

“It’s okay. We can leave the phone on. I can keep talking if you want. You can just sleep.”

_“…If that’s okay… That sounds nice.”_

“Okay. Hug a pillow and pretend it’s me.”

_“I can’t. None of them smell like cat. It’s not realistic.”_

“Hurtful. Mona, do you hear that? _(meow)_ He feels betrayed. He woke me up a couple days ago retching on the carpet. I thought he was going to throw up, but it was just a hairball. He’s just a gross little buddy. Aren’t you, Mona? _(mrrp)_ He loves you, though. Him and his gross hairballs. I love you too. Are you asleep? You didn’t do the choking noise. You must be asleep. Okay. I guess I’ll hang up so you don’t get charged a million –”

_“…love you too…”_

“…Your half-asleep voice is really cute. It’s all mumbly. Hey, good night. I’ll talk to you later.”

_“Night… I love you.”_

“Ha, you just said that.”

_“Hrm… Guess I haven’t stopped loving you since.”_

“…Sleep well… Love you too…”

_“…(snrz)…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (business trip) (fall in love)
> 
> heavy assessment block right now and i can't remember a time when i wasn't horribly tired, so this is just small... silly... hope you liked it... <3


	6. noise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Goro sinks into his usual seat at the corner of the bar, it’s difficult to say if it’s the bags under his eyes or the sigh escaping his lips that’s heavier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> originally posted on tinythoughts.

   When Goro sinks into his usual seat at the corner of the bar, it’s difficult to say if it’s the bags under his eyes or the sigh escaping his lips that’s heavier. Ren watches him place his briefcase atop the counter, carefully, so the light tremble to his arms doesn’t leave the scene a clattering mess.  
  
   Goro opens his mouth.  
  
   “Coming right up,” Ren says, before Goro lets his voice betray his calm veneer any more than the rest of him has. He busies himself about the coffeepot. And through the exhaustion, Ren sees the familiar tinge of surprise in Goro’s eyes, so he says, “Am I wrong?”  
  
   “…About?” Goro asks. “You haven’t said anything.”  
  
   “The usual,” says Ren. “Small flat white. Skim milk, no sugar. That’s your order?”  
  
   Goro blinks. “Do you make it a habit to memorise all your patrons’ orders?”  
  
   “Just the regulars,” says Ren. “Did you want something different today?”  
  
   “What if I did? You’ve already started making it.”  
  
   “I can remake.”  
  
   “The usual’s fine,” says Goro, eyes a little lighter than they were a moment ago. “I might be here a while, though, so –”  
  
   “Chai tea to be going on with,” Ren says. “Medium strength, no sugar, no honey.”  
  
   Goro shakes his head, laughing. “I hope you’re not using that memory of yours for evil,” he says.  
  
   Again: “Am I wrong?”  
  
   “No, you’ve done fine,” Goro says. “Thank you.”  
  
   “Are you working on something?”  
  
   “Unfortunately,” Goro says – and then blinks, like he hadn’t meant to say it. “Oh. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be so pessimistic about it. Yes, just catching up on some schoolwork.”  
  
   “Is it hard?”  
  
   “Erm,” says Goro, “well, no – it’s rather standard, but on top of everything, it’s –” He stops. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today. I don’t mean to complain so much.”  
  
   “It’s okay.” Ren finishes pouring the coffee and pushes the saucer in front of Goro. “Flat white.”  
  
   “Thank you.” Goro lifts the cup and takes a sip. He closes his eyes and murmurs, “Revitalising, as always.”  
  
   “It’s not good to drink coffee after four,” Ren says, eyes dancing a little.  
  
   Goro opens his own eyes again and lets them go crinkly at the corners. “It’s not good to discourage customers,” he counters.  
  
   “Touché.”  
  
   Goro takes another sip.  
  
   “What about you,” he says, “what have you got to be going on with?”  
  
   Nothing I could talk to you about. “Oh, you know,” Ren says lamely. “Life.”  
  
   “Charmingly specific.” Goro’s eyes go squinty when he laughs. “I imagine you have plenty of schoolwork yourself.”  
  
   “It’s not my biggest priority.”  
  
   Goro nods sagely. “Ah, yes,” he says, faux-knowing. “Life.” And it’s Ren’s turn to laugh, which gratifyingly prompts Goro to smile again. “Thank you.”  
  
   “For the coffee? You already thanked me.”  
  
   Goro shakes his head. “Your company,” he muses. “Is that right?”  
  
   “Is it?”  
  
   “I suppose it’s obvious I was feeling under the weather when I stepped in today,” says Goro, eyes bright and gentle. “You have a strange way of lifting my spirits, Amamiya-kun.”  
  
   Ren inclines his head.  
  
   “You shouldn’t work too hard,” he says.  
  
   Goro hums. “Isn’t it easy when you say it like that.”  
  
   “I mean it,” says Ren. “I know you have a lot to do. Don’t forget to take care of yourself. It’s not less important than everything else.”  
  
   Goro looks mildly startled. “Do I seem like I don’t look after myself?”  
  
   Ren shrugs. “You seem pretty responsible,” he says. “You overwork, though. It shouldn’t be a badge of honour to take on more than you can handle.”  
  
   “I can handle plenty.” Goro’s voice is amused, if there’s a slightly cooler edge to it now. Ren presses against it, undeterred.  
  
   “You shouldn’t,” he says firmly. “Have to, at least.”  
  
   Goro waits for him to continue, but Ren doesn’t say anything else. After a beat of silence, Goro clears his throat and looks down at his coffee.  
  
   “Thank you for your concern,” he says politely. “Your idealism is – refreshing, as always.”  
  
   Ren makes a noncommittal noise. “Can’t risk losing our best customer,” he mumbles. “Let me know when you’re done with your drink. I’ll make tea.”  
  
   “Thank you.”  
  
   “You’re welcome,” says Ren. “Anytime.”


	7. gimme some sugar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “At least tie your drawstrings,” Goro growls, the red on his cheeks lit most elegantly by a halo of fluorescent light.  
> Ah, the glamour of the ice cream chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kofi request for @WastedOnEggnog on twitter: "3 am emergency grocery run… cause they both crave the weirdest shit… Its also a week night…"
> 
> <3

   “At least tie your drawstrings,” Goro growls, the red on his cheeks lit most elegantly by a halo of fluorescent light.

   Ah, the glamour of the ice cream chest.

   Ren does what he’s told. As if there’s any dignity left to be had at this point. The cashier shoots another curious glance over at them and Goro coughs into his hand, hiding his face. Ren adjusts his ratty sweats again, only self-conscious at all because Goro looks like he’s dying.

  “Vanilla or strawberry?” Ren asks, squinting into the fridge.

   “Strawberry,” Goro mumbles. “…Actually, get both.”

   Ren shoots him an amused look. “Are we going wild now?”

   Goro groans.

   “I have to be up for work in two hours,” he says mournfully. “Life has no meaning anyway. Get both, Ren.”

   “You’re awfully crabby considering this was your idea.”

   “It was not,” Goro says primly.

   It was. Ren places the daifuku boxes carefully into the basket.

   “Did you find yours?” Goro asks him, and Ren waves the roll cake back at him in victory. “Good. Let’s get going before someone recognises me.”

   “What, worried they won’t find you as charming as I do in those pants?”

   Goro visibly winces and snatches the basket from Ren’s hold, as if it’ll do much to hide the print on his own sweatpants.

   Ren grins. “I think it’s cute,” he says, for the seventh time that night (morning) (this was such a mistake) and Goro glares daggers at him, not unlike the daggers Red Hawk is wielding on his Featherman trousers.

   Ren says, “While we’re here,” and gravitates towards the manga rack, leaving Goro to hiss at him from behind the ice cream.

   When they reconvene at approximately twelve minutes past the hour, there are six rice balls piled neatly atop the ice cream boxes in the basket. Goro says, “You can be quiet,” and Ren says, “I didn’t say anything,” and dumps a stack of manga in on top of them, and Goro closes his eyes.

   “I hope some of those are for me,” says Ren, and Goro shakes his head.

   Ren pouts and fetches another rice ball.

   “Wait,” says Goro, and snags a packet of Kit Kats.

   “Those are wasabi,” Ren says warily.

   “God is dead, Ren,” Goro informs him kindly.

   They pay for the godless Kit Kats and also everything else.

   “Are you Goro Akechi?” the cashier asks, looking slightly apprehensive.

   “No,” Goro says, smiling at her.

   “One hundred and twenty yen change,” the cashier says, looking slightly more apprehensive, and hands them the coins.

   Goro spends this on a soda at a vending machine one store down.

   “Really?” Ren asks. “You want caffeine right now?”

   Goro offers him a middle finger and doesn’t stop chugging the soda.

   “Give me some,” Ren says, and Goro hands the can over. “Wow, _thanks_.”

   “It’s _some_ ,” Goro says.

   Ren swirls the dregs sadly and downs them anyway.

   It’s almost 4am.

   “I want my daifuku,” Goro says, slightly petulant. “Hand them over.”

   “Say please,” Ren says.

   Goro says something that makes Ren gasp in mock horror and just liberates the strawberry daifuku from the plastic bag himself. “Do you want one?”

   “You go ahead,” Ren says.

   Goro pops one between his lips. Ren leans over and bites off the rest of it, kissing confectioner’s sugar off Goro’s mouth. “Thanks.”

   Goro frowns at him. “You could have just asked for one.”

   Ren bats his eyes and says, “You have sugar on your nose.”

   Goro waits. Ren pecks his nose. “There you go.”

   “My hero,” Goro says drily, and gets more sugar on Ren’s cheek.

   They walk the remaining distance home.

   “My alarm goes off in an hour,” Goro says when they get inside, sounding not quite like an alive person.

   “Skip work today.”

   “I can’t do _that_.”

   “Can too. Want some roll cake?”

   (Goro does.)

   “Make me some coffee,” Goro demands later, his head in Ren’s lap.

   Ren strokes his hair absently. “Now? It’s not even five.”

   “Yes. I’m going to be at work all day. Extra strong, please.”

   “You’re still _going_?”

   “I have to.” Goro gazes up and turns teacup eyes on Ren. “I said please…”

   Ren groans.

   One hideously strong coffee creation later, Ren slumps across the sofa. “How are you enjoying that?”

   Goro sips demurely at his coffee (bean sludge, Ren had called it in horror) and pops another daifuku in his mouth.

   “I’ll head off soon,” he says, and slips into the bathroom to make himself decent.

   Ren is already asleep by the time he’s back out, dressed and clean. Snoring slightly.

   Goro puts a blob of cream from the roll cake on his nose and takes a picture.

   “Love you,” he says, too quietly to wake him, and leaves two rice balls on his sleeping chest for him to find later.


	8. game on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I thought you’d like arcades,” says Ren, looking a bit put-out. “Since you like winning. And action figures.”  
> “I do like winning,” Goro agrees, ignoring the second part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anon prompt on cc: _I got you homie: have some Akeshu where Ren takes Akechi to an arcade and Akechi’s never been before._
> 
> written real fast, unedited.

   “Really? Never?”

   “Well, no,” says Goro, looking curiously around at the bright, noisy machines at the arcade. “I mean, I might have been inside one before, but it mustn’t have been very memorable… and I certainly didn’t play anything, in any case.”

   “I thought you’d like arcades,” says Ren, looking a bit put-out. “Since you like winning. And action figures.”

   “I do like winning,” Goro agrees, ignoring the second part. “It was a lovely idea, Ren. Thank you for your thoughtfulness as always.” He shoots a slightly snooty look at a boy who’s being a little too loud at the shooting game a few paces away. “I just never had time before now. Or reason – I’d look a bit stupid playing in here by myself, wouldn’t I?”

   “Nah,” says Ren. “But you’re with me now, anyway, so no need to be self-conscious.”

   “I’m not self-conscious,” Goro objects self-consciously.

   “Wanna try a crane game?” asks Ren, but Goro is eyeing the shooting game from before. “He doesn’t look like he’s gonna leave anytime soon.”

   “He should think about it. He’s not improving,” Goro mutters, making Ren laugh. He tugs Goro over to a crane.

   “C’mon,” he says. “Before anyone hears you being a dick to the twelve-year-olds. This one has Featherman –”

   “I don’t watch that show,” Goro says immediately.

   “– and Futaba wanted me to win something for her,” Ren finishes, looking just slightly amused at Goro’s ashen face, “but good to know, I won’t give you anything, then.”

   “Well,” says Goro. “Good.”

   Ren slots in a few coins, and then makes a gesture at Goro like, _Do you want to try?_

   “Oh,” says Goro. “I think I’ll watch you at it first.

   “You’ve played these, haven’t you?”

   “Crane games?” Goro snorts. “Yes, I’m not so deprived of fun that I’ve never played a _crane game_ before. I just like watching you play.”

   Ren cracks his knuckles. “The master at work,” he says, satisfied. Goro rolls his eyes.

   The crane grabs hold of the figurine once, twice, _thrice_ , then closes on air the fourth – all are released before it reaches the box. Ren groans and drops dramatically to his knees; collapsed over the console, a defeated ragdoll.

   “Let me try,” says Goro, whose eyes have gone bright and searching, the way they always do when he’s snapped into analysis.

   From his position slumped over the joystick, Ren eyes him.

   “It’s luck,” he says. “Nothing to learn.”

   “Grim advice,” Goro comments, “coming from the ‘master’,” and nudges Ren off the machine nonetheless. Then holds his hand out.

   “ _I_ have to fund this?”

   “A date, is it not?”

   Ren grumbles, but digs into his pocket again, unable to quell his Gentlemanly Instinct – so he’d say, or his pride if one were to ask Goro. He drops a few coins into Goro’s gloved palm.

   “Thank you,” says Goro pleasantly, and turns a death glare on the machine.

   It doesn’t seem cowed.

   “Steady,” says Ren, when Goro starts the arm moving. Goro pauses long enough to shoot him an unimpressed look, the arm swinging happily beyond their will – “A little to the left.”

   Goro jerks the stick irritably to the left and sets the arm swinging wildly again.

   “Good?” Goro asks of Ren some seconds later, who has his face pressed to the other side of the glass – Ren surveys the now slightly calmer arm and nods once, sharply, and Goro smacks his open palm onto the and watches the claw – rake over the sides of the box, pulling it off the floor of the machine and –

   – drop it with a small crash, knocking it onto its side.

   “Better luck next time,” says Ren, suppressing laughter at Goro’s thunderous face.

   The claw has returned serenely to its usual position.

   “I get one more, don’t I?” Goro asks, addressing the machine. He’s smiling.

   Ren looks at him warily.

   Goro pushes the joystick forward, slow and deliberate… the arm moves…

   “It’s luck,” Ren grumbles a few minutes later, a new figure clutched in Goro’s arms, striding brightly next to him. “And I tightened up the odds for you.”

   “Let’s try this one,” Goro suggests cheerfully, gesturing at the shooting game.

   Ren brightens.

   (Twenty minutes later, with Ren at the top of the leaderboard four times in increasingly ridiculous aliases, Goro pulls him out of the arcade still muttering under his breath about the unfamiliar weight of the plastic trinkets he refuses to call guns.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and then goro refuses to give the figure he won to futaba


	9. turnover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Just thinking," says Futaba. "Pretty sure no one in history has ever gotten this tilted about jam tarts."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kofi request for "akeshu bakery au" from [@QuireFeast](https://twitter.com/QuireFeast) on twitter - thank you so much <3

   "Just thinking," says Futaba. "Pretty sure no one in history has ever gotten this tilted about jam tarts."

   "I'm not tilted," snapped Goro.

   Futaba shrugged. "Steamed," she suggested. "Irate." She adopted an Australian accent. " _Aggro_." The accent was bad.

   Goro fumed at the jam tarts. They stared back, winking happily in the light of the bakery. The glaze was perfect. Goro was going to set them on fire.

   "Don't set them on fire," Futaba said hastily, recognising Goro's 'I'm going to set it on fire' face and snatching one up before he could upend the the box and send the little tarts skittering across the floor.

   Goro grunted and picked one up. He took a grudging bite. His face turned ugly.

   "Oh, grow up," said Futaba, watching his eyebrows turn to stormclouds and start raining all over his sunny face. That was the look of a phenomenal, even flawless pastry, and there was nothing Goro abhorred more - but only when the box bore the logo of the patisserie across the street.

 

* * *

 

  _Countdown To Retaliation_ , read the board under the counter - or it  _had_  read as much, before Ann had crossed it out and scribbled  _Days Until Next Nonsense_  over the top of it. Ren, defeated, had not seen fit to correct this.

   The count was currently at -1, and Ren had never been more nervous in his life. His last 'gift box’ had been an assortment of elaborately iced cupcakes and meringue-based desserts, which had taken hours of preparation and hours more of pleading with Yusuke to enable his Next Nonsense and weaponise his artistry. The cupcakes were delicate and inordinately beautiful, and might as well have read  _suck my ass_  for the barely concealed rage on Goro's face when Ren had wheeled them in.

   Based on that, he was probably expecting something like a croquembouche shaped into a middle finger with a delicate spun sugar  _fuck you_  dedication in response.

   But their pastry feud had been going three months and went like clockwork, and for the first time, Goro was late.

   “Do you think,” he started to say, but Ann said, “No, I try not to when it comes to you,” and Ren gave up.

   The entry bell tinkled and Ren's head snapped up. And his mouth dropped open.

   “Hello,” Goro said cheerfully, “I hope you've been well. I brought a gift.”

   Ren closed his mouth, then opened it again. And closed it again.

   “Yeah,” he said weakly, and got up to make some room in the shop for the enormous wedding cake on Goro's trolley.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hit me up on twitter: [@corviiid](https://twitter.com/corviiid)

**Author's Note:**

> these are all too short and/or vaguely defined to justify posting them as separate works, so i'll stagger them here. hope you enjoy them :)


End file.
